Nothing Is Frozen About Tundra Sales

Toyota Motor Corp., the fourth-biggest automaker in the U.S., says its new full-size pickup has recorded the fastest sales start of any new product in its history.

Toyota sold 4,565 Tundras in the 10 days after the pickup went on sale June 1. The Japan-based automaker has 5,000 units on order from its 1,100 U.S. dealers, spokesman Sam Butto said.

“We had people put down deposits as soon as they heard that Toyota was going to sell a V-8 truck,” said Dennis Prado, sales manager at Huntington Beach Toyota. His dealership sold six trucks before they arrived on the lot and has three more on order.

Toyota, best-known for its Camry midsize sedan, is boosting its emphasis on light trucks. Toyota plans to build 100,000 of the 245-horsepower Tundras a year, expecting to triple the sales mark of its lower-powered predecessor, the T100. It’s seeking about 6% of the nation’s full-size truck market, estimated at 1.5 million trucks. The pack is led by Ford Motor Co.’s F-series.

The Tundra is lower priced than its rivals. Its base price is $15,415, including destination charges, while Ford’s best-selling F-150 starts at $15,890 and General Motor Corp.’s redesigned 1999 Chevrolet Silverado begins at $15,995. Toyota’s target of 100,000 for Tundra is about as many F-Series trucks as Ford sells in six weeks.

“Toyota will probably be selling the Tundra at [production] capacity for the first two-thirds of its life,” said Jim Hall, an automotive consultant with AutoPacific Group Inc. in Farmington Hills, Mich.

U.S. sales of pickups, minivans and sport-utility vehicles rose 10% this year through May from the year-earlier period, while car sales rose 5.1%, according to Autodata Corp.

Toyota, which has its U.S. business headquarters in Torrance began production of the Tundra pickup in December at its new $1.2-billion plant in Princeton, Ind.

Toyota American depositary receipts rose 1 3/8 to 63.